In search of customer delight: Integrating customer satisfaction and NPS metrics

Abstract

Successful companies know that they must delight their customers to ensure their loyalty and grow their businesses. Building on a dual perspective of academic and industry findings, this paper clarifies the customer delight construct. According to the marketing literature, customer delight (CD) may be viewed as: (1) a distinct emotional state where customer expectations are exceeded, or (2) an extreme form of customer satisfaction (CS). These two positions are assessed with particular attention paid to measurement approaches and challenges. CS and net promoter score (NPS) metrics are often used to capture and explicate the meaning of customer delight. Given the strategic importance of these well-established measurement tools, CS and NPS are reviewed and critiqued. The need for a marketing metrics mindset is also discussed. The paper concludes with a 9-point plan for marketing management to successfully implement and evaluate customer delight in organisations.